To say that the Avengers looked uncomfortable during their most recent briefing would be like saying the ocean was slightly wet. They were not at all happy to hear about what Director Fury and Thor had spoken of earlier in the day.

"And I thought Goldilocks talking about him being suicidal like it was a noble thing was messed up," Tony muttered loud enough to be heard by the rest of the room.

"We would have seen it. We're trained to see it," Natasha grumbled with a look that said she was not as certain of her words as she sounded.

Bruce looked at his hand, the hand that had held Loki's scepter and wondered how much of the "other guy's" rampage was related to the weapon. And if there was still a danger from it.

Clint winced. He hated Loki. He understood that. He could even pity him if Thor had been right. But this? If Loki had been in the same position or worse as compared to what was done to Selvig and himself then... God this was fucked up.

The only one that looked relatively composed over the matter was Steve, and that was mostly because he was too stunned to show the growing sickness in the pit of his stomach.

"Now I want to reiterate that this is all conjecture at this point. Thor's basing this on the fact that Loki was acting very different from what he knows about him, but that doesn't mean he's right. It's not like Loki hasn't played us all for saps before," Fury stressed with a detached look.

"Yeah, because it's not like the guy that spent centuries growing up next to Loki would have a better idea of what he should be acting like. Or would understand all the little cultural cues that seem downright alien to the rest of us because, y'know, they are, or anything. I mean, Thor thought suicide by cop was a good thing. How do you wrap your head around a society where that's normal?" Tony grumbled.

"Ask someone who is Japanese. Hara-kiri is based on a similar principle. Death before dishonor," Natasha responded idly, her face deep in thought. The way he seemed to switch between smooth and bloodthirsty in their interview had been off-putting. She had chalked it up to Loki being an insane megalomaniac. Had she really read the situation that poorly?

"Where is the staff right now? We didn't send it back with Thor and Loki. Is it secure?" Bruce asked, his mouth suddenly dry.

"We've had it moved to a more secure location, and after the briefing I'll want everyone that has been in contact with it to be looked over by the medical staff again," Nick assured him.

"Which basically means only you and Cap don't have to stay after class," Hawkeye quipped with a scowl.

"Well, in all fairness, all he touched with me was my arc reactor housing. And he was having performance issues at the time," Tony interjected with a smirk.

"Sir, if Loki was under another's control, what do we do?" Steve asked, ignoring the by-play between Clint and Tony.

"That's the million dollar question, Steve. Thor has returned to Asgard to warn them that Loki might still be compromised. If he is, for now it will be up to them to handle him. And to find out just who might be pulling the strings," Fury noted grimly.

"Is that a good idea? I mean, keeping Loki and the tessaract in the same place if he was supposed to deliver it to a bigger bad in the food chain?" Tony asked.

Nick did not have a response ready for that question.

In a dark cell in the dungeons of the Royal Palace Loki sat unmoving, his face pulled into an unnatural grin. These fools surrounding him would never understand the truths the tessaract bestowed. He had finally seen the truth of all things. Seen the lies he had told himself all his life. And soon, he would break those lies for all of Asgard as they had been broken for him.

And somewhere deep within him, deeper than the Chitauri could reach; deeper than even their master could delve, Loki screamed. He screamed and hoped for deliverance. He hoped Thor would save him. Sometimes he hoped that Thor would destroy him.

But even there in the deepest depths of his mind, it was only Thor he called out for. He had lost faith in Odin to care for his second son- no. His private war trophy. Neither Odin nor Frigga truly cared for him. Nobody in the Realm Eternal did except for Thor.

And even Thor's good grace was becoming harder to picture in his increasingly isolated mind.

"I did not expect you back so soon, my son," Odin commented as he looked at the kneeling from of Thor before him.

"Father, has Heimdall kept you and mother informed of events on Midgard?" Thor asked without preamble.

"Aye," Odin acknowledged with a trouble look. "Come. We will speak of this in our private chambers," he commended as he rose from his throne.

It was only when the trio of Thor, Frigga, and Odin were well away from prying ears that the Allfather did speak again. "It was troubling new Heimdall brought of your meeting with the Man of Fury, my son."

"Thor, do you think it is possible?" Frigga asked. Her heart was still heavy at the sight of her youngest son bound in chains like a common criminal. The first thing he had done when Thor had brought him back to face the consequences for his actions was to denounce Odin and herself. That single act had hurt the Queen more than any physical blow could have. The look in his eye as he spat they he was no child of Odin was so hateful and maddened that she feared there was nothing left of her little boy. Now, to discover that it may have been something done to him deliberately. Well, if it were true, there would be Hel to pay.

"At best, his actions here in Asgard were still his own. We must not forget that," Odin argued gruffly.

"And can you blame him? You reveal something that makes his whole life seem a lie then fall into the Odinsleep before you can truly explain things. You leave him with a throne he never wanted and was not prepared for than then scold him for losing his way?" Frigga challenged. It was something she would only do when the family was truly alone. But she had seen enough of Odin's attitude toward their son. And Loki was still theirs no matter where he had been born.

"I cannot deny that mistakes were made, wife. There was not a day that has passed since that day on the Bifrost that I do not wish I had been more careful with my words. That I could have called Loki back from the despair and madness that had taken him. But what's done is done. We must content with that is, and not with the past," Odin responded.

"Allfather, do you have any idea who could have put these poisonous thoughts in Loki's head?" Thor asked.

If possible, Odin's face grew even grimmer as he replied, "There is one who once sought the tessaract. A being of unimaginable power and malice. One that was said to court Death itself as a consort. It was only through an alliance of the most powerful in the Nine Realms that he was bested. In fact, his cursed glove rests in the Vault now between the tessaract and the Casket of Ancient Winters."

"Who is this being? Why have I not heard of him?" Thor asked.

"He was bested long before you or Loki was born, my son. And at a terrible price. There are some monsters you dare not name for fear they still linger in the shadows waiting to leap out at you. The master of the Infinity Gauntlet was such as monster. But, because you have asked, and because I fear he may be once more lurking in darkness again, I will tell you. He is called Thanos. And I pray that we are wrong and he has not corrupted Loki's mind. For that may be a fate worse than any we could imagine," Odin warned.